I just finished watching Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous in English) a little while ago, and I have to say, for a 3D-rendered anime, this is the best one I've seen. Only thing even coming close is Ajin, but even then, HnK just blows it out of the water. It's got a premise somewhat similar to Steven Universe, but other than gem people, comparing the two is difficult. I actually loved the show so much I cosplayed a character from it last weekend haha.

Tne poor little puke. His bestest friend in the whole wide world has just died, and yet Pikachu...he's trying so hard to be a brave little trooper. Ash's tough beautiful boy, right? But he misses Ash so much already. It's awful.

(EDIT: ^Also, I acknowledge that song is beautiful, homey. I don't know anything else by Blessid Union of Souls. I would like to give them more of a chance. We all have so little time.

That "She Likes Me For Me" song is also by them. You've probably heard it without knowing it! Here's a link. Huge in the late '90s.

I also finished watching Code Geass a little while ago, but wanted to compile my thoughts on it here, because it was a really fun watch. I really enjoy political drama, so watching how the story unfolds was interesting enough to me to keep me watching from episode to episode. It's really gripping, the characters and setting are unique, and the show manages to leave you wanting to watch how the conflict will unfold and develop. I normally am also not very into mech-fighting anime, but Code Geass managed to get me into even that aspect, throwing in elements of strategy to keep things interesting.

My biggest complaint is really how they progress the plot half the time, though. Often the methods for characters solving problems ends up being really contrived or convenient. Even just looking at the alternate history the show has - I think the writers have a clear idea of how they want things to begin and end, but they really struggle with writing out a natural-feeling resolution. This isn't always the case, of course, but when it is, it's so glaringly bad that it does detract from the show.

I've spent the last month watching Pokemon on Twitch. For the most part it's still pretty good, very much a kids show but the writing is still entertaining.

Indigo League: Probably the strongest season overall, mostly due to the formula still being fresh. Battles are pretty weak though, with most of Ash's victories being PITY BADGES. The Indigo League itself also ends up as a bit of a wet fart as Ash loses to his Echo Fighter very anti-climatically in the back half of an episode. The writers were trying to make it so that "Ash is too inexperienced to win" but the sequence of events feel incredibly unfair and unsatisfying.

Orange Islands: Basically a filler season. Tracey is dramatically inferior to Brock. The battle with Drake is pretty neat.

Johto: Way too long for its own good. To give you an idea, The Indigo League is 77 episodes and Ash gets his 8th badge by episode 60. Johto is split into three seasons (with 156 episodes total) and by the end of the first 40-episode season Ash has two badges. The Team Rocket formula gets dragged out hard to the point that they can go blasting off three times in the same episode. It's only much later that you get more interesting multi-episode arcs. Battles are significantly improved up to and including the league fights, but the writers had significant trouble balancing the Johto Pokemon with the Kanto Pokemon. The League in particular is dominated by Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard in what feels like an apology for the Indigo League. Pikachu getting used in every Gym Fight is kind of dumb as well. I assume this is part of why Ash gets only one starter in Hoenn and leaves every non-Pikachu 'mon at the lab.

Also whose idea was it to box Heracross from the 29th episode until the second-last League fight? What the hell, man. The Johto team also doesn't get a send-off at all which feels kind of sad. Poor Bayleef.

The Movies: The movies have some interesting ideas but none of them really execute them particularly well. I'd say that Movie 3 has the best balance between story and Pokemon fighting. Movie 2 is significantly worse than I remembered in both.

Anyway, I don't think I'll watch anymore. I'm sure Advanced and onwards will improve in a lot of ways but I've had my fill of the Pokemon formula for now.

I've spent the last month watching Pokemon on Twitch. For the most part it's still pretty good, very much a kids show but the writing is still entertaining.

I tried to rewatch some Pokemon last year and I honestly don't know how you even made it as far as you did. Repetitive themes are an understatement. I quit after like 40 episodes. I'm trying my luck with One Piece. Can't believe I haven't watched it yet. I did just finish BNHA, My Hero Acadamia, whatever you want to call it. Very enjoyable now I'm all caught up. Castlevania is dropping on Netflix end of October as well so that's something to look forward too.

I watched mother! last weekend with some friends. I had no idea what it was going into it, I figured it was just a run of the mill horror/thriller mystery thing of the type my roommate likes to watch a lot. I was knocked completely on my ass, needless to say for those who have seen it. Christ what a movie. Beautifully filmed and directed at every step, it feels just like a nightmare in its surrealness and uncomfortableness. And then that climax, wow. Utterly shocking, in the best sense of the word.

Hmmm. The last thing I watched was SU--------"Escapism". I really liked it. More silliness with the watermelon folk, and then at the end there's a really sweet scene with Lion, Bismuth, Greg and Steven's watermelon avatar. The song was the kicker, man--------whole thing tweaked the heartstrings. I got misty.